Sunday, 26 September 2010

My family on film... in 1933!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this! Recently my mum remembered out of the blue that there was an old cine film of my family from ye olde days... she got in touch with her Auntie Joan, who sure enough had the film, already transferred onto DVD. Turns out there is footage from 1933 and 1949! Why wasn't I informed earlier?!??

I've edited it down into little nuggets that I thought you'd be interested to see. The fashion is, of course, amazing, plus it's really moving to see my ancestors on moving image. The film was recorded by cousins of my Nana, who died ten years ago.

This is the family garden in Cardiff. The baby is Auntie Joan. The little girls taking it in turns to sit on the bench are Nana's cousins Rita, Thelma, Sheila, and then the tall girl is Nana - Eileen. Don't you love her dress? She would have been about 14 in the film - she looks so elegant for a 14 year old!

This is a Cardiff street scene - look out for the policemen and the man in the top hat - followed by some kind of military parade with what looks like the lord mayor in attendance. Ten points if you can work out what event it might be!

Possibly my favourite of the bunch, this is Porthcawl beach (on the South coast of Wales). Look out for my great-great-Auntie Esther knitting on the beach! By the end of the clip the film is really faded. As much as I'm saddened by film deteriorating, I find the aesthetics of decay hauntingly beautiful too.

Those are priceless clips Tilly. Porthcawl hasn't changed that much, its still recognisable - but a few more houses on the front. I have photos of my grandmother with a beautiful parasol on the beach like in the last clip. Also lots of my grandfather on the beach in a suit! Can you imagine? What a wonderful record.

Oh Tilly, watching these films made me want to cry for some reason, especially the first one where the little girls are taking it in turns to dance for the camera. Beautiful. xhandmadejane.blogspot.com

oh wow! What a treasure! I especially loved the first video. It really makes a "traditional portrait" come alive! I wish I could see the videos behind some of my older family portraits! They look like such a fun family too! How lovely!

Those videos are adorable! I love the true authenticity - being so winded-up on vintage, authentic videos like that is still something rare... And the male swimming suits... I wonder if we would see the same charm today if the guys wore the same style?

Oh wow--how neat that you have family films! I always love watching personal films like these from earlier times--they really are fantastic to see how people viewed themselves and the world around them (since Hollywood films, as much as I adore them, never quite do the "everyday" scenes justice ;). Thank you so much for sharing these--please do post more! :)

It's taken me a while to watch this (I'm lazy with videos) but they are really lovely, and you are so lucky to have this!

I way really struck by all the hats in the cardiff scene. Of course I know that everyone used to wear a hat all the time, but still it was strange to contrast that with the present day, when almost nobody wear a hat. Why have we gotten rid of this most excellent accessory?